<p>People keep telling me that the first math course I took at my CC was remedial, which confuses me because it was for college credit at the CC and was even counted as an elective credit at umich. It just didn’t satisfy the general education math requirement at umich, I had to take another class up to accomplish that.</p>
<p>I can say with absolute certainty it is more expensive to take college math over and over again without passing than it is to take a remedial class that isn’t for credit. A friend of mine with dyscalculia used up her entire financial aid eligibility blowing her general education math requirement over and over and over and over again. I got away with only having to take algebra twice to pass it (once without LD diagnosis, second time with it), and then I was able to pass my stats class with a B and be done.</p>
<p>Had to take an algebra test on a job application to be a receptionist the other day, including long division with odd numbers. Got them all right and was shocked. When I was taking high school algebra I had teachers who stopped giving me exams because it “was a waste of paper,” and teachers who kept passing me even though I was failing because they figured I was smart and would catch up. I was diagnosed with dyscalculia in elementary but the school told my parents it didn’t mean anything and wouldn’t accommodate, and it was forgotten about until I was retested as an adult. It’s a dismal world out there for those who don’t have a natural math ability. I was really given no chance to be successful until I took college algebra with my LD diagnosis. My parents were annoyed and thought it was a waste of time since it wouldn’t meet my math requirement-- especially when I failed and wanted to take it again, but that one class probably made the difference between whether or not I ever finished a college degree.</p>
<p>As it turns out I am actually really pretty good at math, but math CLASSES are exceptionally challenging for me (real world application of math facts taught in classes are not challenging at all) and realistically I will probably always need to have a basic four-function calculator around to keep up at a normal pace. In the grand scheme of things that’s not so bad, it would have been a shame to have never finished college because I stalled out in elementary statistics.</p>